UAV Enabled Vehicle Perimeters

Abstract

Perimeter devices, vehicles, including autonomous vehicles and human-controlled vehicles, UAVs, and related systems and methods are described. Perimeter devices respond to triggering events, such as vehicle-immobilizing events, GPS-based events, and environment-based events, to establish a perimeter adjacent a vehicle such that observers can visually detect the presence of a signal member, such as a warning triangle having a reflective surface. An example vehicle includes a tractor unit, a trailer connected to the tractor unit, a storage enclosure associated with the tractor unit, and a plurality of perimeter devices disposed in the chamber. Each perimeter device is adapted to deploy from the vehicle and establish a perimeter by the vehicle in response to a triggering event, such as parking of the vehicle in a location for which a perimeter must be established, impact of the vehicle with another object, rollover, or mechanical and/or electrical failure of the vehicle.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method of establishing a vehicle safety perimeter, comprising:
 operating a vehicle having at least one perimeter device associated with the vehicle, the perimeter device comprising a UAV, having a non-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration and adapted to transition from the non-deployed configuration to the deployed configuration in response to a triggering event relating to a status of the vehicle or its environment;   deploying the perimeter device from the vehicle; and   positioning the perimeter device at a deployment location away from the vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the perimeter device further comprises a signal member. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the UAV is in a first position relative to the signal member when the perimeter device is in the non-deployed configuration and the UAV is in a second position relative to the signal member when the perimeter device is in the deployed configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the vehicle has an external surface; and
 wherein the perimeter device disposed on the external surface in the non-deployed configuration.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event comprises a vehicle immobilizing event. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the triggering event comprises one or more of image recognition by artificial intelligence, a GPS-based event, and an environment-based event. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising acquiring information relating to one or more situational parameters relating to an environment around the vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the perimeter device further comprises a sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the sensor comprises a camera, an infrared sensor, a radar sensor, or a LIDAR sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the sensor comprises a camera; and
 wherein the acquiring information comprises recording an image using the camera.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deploying is performed while the vehicle is in motion. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deploying is performed while the vehicle is stationary. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the perimeter device further comprises a sensor; and
 wherein the acquiring information comprises acquiring readings from the sensor.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the acquiring information comprises acquiring map-based information about the environment near the vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 acquiring information relating to one or more situational parameters relating to an environment around the vehicle; and   defining a predetermined location away from the vehicle based on the information;   wherein the deployment location is based on the predetermined location.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising adjusting the deployment location based on the information. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the deployment location is a roadside position adjacent the vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . A method of establishing a vehicle safety perimeter, comprising:
 operating a vehicle having a perimeter device associated with the vehicle, the perimeter device comprising a UAV and a camera and having a non-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration;   deploying the perimeter device from the vehicle by operating the UAV of the perimeter device to transition the perimeter device from the non-deployed configuration to the deployed configuration and to move the perimeter device to a deployment location away from the vehicle to establish the vehicle safety perimeter;   recording imagery of the scene near the vehicle using the camera; and   issuing a signal to a recipient when the vehicle safety perimeter is violated.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the signal comprises one or more of an audible signal, a visual signal, and a data signal. 
     
     
         20 . A method of establishing a vehicle safety perimeter, comprising:
 operating a vehicle having a perimeter device associated with the vehicle, the perimeter device comprising a UAV and a camera and having a non-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration;   deploying the perimeter device from the vehicle by operating the UAV of the perimeter device to transition the perimeter device from the non-deployed configuration to the deployed configuration and to move the perimeter device to a deployment location away from the vehicle to establish the vehicle safety perimeter;   recording imagery of the scene near the vehicle using the camera; and   issuing a signal to a recipient located within the environment of the vehicle when the vehicle safety perimeter is violated, the signal comprising one or more of an audible signal, a visual signal, and a data signal.